Alternative Basement Heat

Background: Unfinished basement with 1 heating system throughout house (heat ducts are branched off eachother for both upstairs and downstairs). Coverage area will be ~900-1000 square feet.

(Percieved) Problem: Basement will be cold during the winter due to the thermostat being upstairs using the furnace as the only source of heat. I would like this to not stand out as a heating source, but function quietly (baseboard heat, without the unit on the wall). I have no good place to put a gas/electric fireplace, and even worse place to vent it outside.

Ideas: (1). Close upstairs vents and open downstairs vents to allow more heat into the basement. (2). Plumb/wire in an additional heat source for the basement. I looked at flooring heat, but was limited by the want of carpet. Also read that floor heat from this source only heats up the floor and does minimal to the air temp.

Any other options that I am missing?

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Alternative Basement Heat

Electric baseboard heaters with a wall mounted thermostat is your best bet. On a sunny day it may be warm upstairs and the tstat doesn't call for heat anyway. If you want to use the basement a lot then a separate system will allow you to turn it on/off as required.

Alternative Basement Heat

If zoning isn't an option, you may want to look into a fujitsu or Mr. Slim heat pump system, can get costly, but it will heat and cool your basement seperately from the rest of the house, meaning no need for additional zones or increase of BTU to the existing primary system. But, if it's a McMansion, and the builder installed a "builder grade" furn and A/C, you may just want to bite the bullet, get some zones and a bigger/better name brand system.

Alternative Basement Heat

A mini split, or zone your curretn system.

Just closing the supplies won't help much.
During the off cycle, the cold air from the first floor will still enter the basement through the supply registers, and cool it off quicker the the first floor.

Alternative Basement Heat

C J
Going down the same road as you, finishing basement, looking for best heat without spending a bundle. (did get a price on a heating airconditioning unit, $5,500.00 installed...too much). Seems for me the only choice is to go electric baseboard, and agree with you on the appearance. Now I need to decide, between the basic electric, hydronic, or ceramic.

Alternative Basement Heat

First things first. Insulate the basement walls and pay particular attention to the rim joist area. That will make a huge difference in your basement temps. Once that is done you'll have a better idea how out of balance the temp difference is between upstairs and down. Maybe some minor balancing with adjustable registers will be all you need. If you leave your furnace fan on 24/7 it also helps address the "sunny day" issue.

If that doesn't do it then look around more at baseboard heaters. They all gotta be what they gotta be but some aren't all that ugly compared to others.